Executive Summary

The development of information literacy—the ability to locate, gather, evaluate, and use information analytically and effectively—is the focus of Trinity University’s “Expanding Horizons” Quality Enhancement Plan. Trinity has always valued critical reading, analytical writing, and reasoned judgment as key components of a liberal arts education, and it supports a variety of opportunities for student research. However, the sheer volume of information and its rapidly changing forms challenge us to move beyond what we have traditionally done in and out of the classroom. Expanding Horizons asks faculty to design a creative and systematic approach to information literacy that is an integral part of the academic curriculum, and it asks staff and student leaders to reinforce information literacy in the co-curriculum. Over the next five years, “Expanding Horizons” will ensure that students are better prepared to work conscientiously and ethically with information in their coursework, and it will provide opportunities for students to apply similar critical thinking and research skills in their co-curricular lives. The result will be a campus culture that is more thoughtful, more informed, and thus more energized. This, in turn, will lead to graduates who are well prepared for their lives beyond Trinity.